Apparatus for elevating water.



0. A. ROED. APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING WATER. APPLICATION FILED FEB.15,1908.

938,078. I Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

is placed an air-suction device, which, under OLA? A. BQED, OFMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

APPARATUS FOR ELEVATING WATER.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Oct. 26,1909.

Application filed February '15 1908. Serial No. 416,043.

To all 1177mm it may concern: I Be it known that'l, ()Lar A. Reno, acitizen ot' the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county ofHennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Elevating \Vater; and I do hereby declarethe l following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same. 7

My invention has for its object to provide an apparatus which willutilize the force of the running stream or power developed by the flowof water from a normal or relatively high elevation to the lowerelevation, and which, while highly eflicient for the purposes had inView, may be maintained at very small running cost.

To the above ends, the invention consists of the novel devices andcombinations of de vices hereinafter described and defined in theclaims.

Generally stated, my invention consists in the employment of two or moresiphons (simple or complex). While, as just indicated, more than twosiphons may be employed in this system, the greater number would,nevertheless, include at least two siphons; and, hence, for the purposesof this descri tion, the invention will be hereinafter descri ed asconsisting of two siphons, the one designated as a primary siphon andthe other designated as a secondary siphon. The so-called primary siphonis arranged to receive water from a normal elevation or suply, such asthe foreba of a dam, and to deiver the water to a ower elevation. Theso-called secondary siphon has arelatively long receiving leg and isarrangedto receive water from a normal elevation or water supply, suchas the forebay of a dam, and to deliver the same to a higher elevation.In its lower fportion, the relatively long receiving leg 0 thissecondary siphon is provided with an air inlet. Both siphons are provided with vacuum chambers in their summits, and these two vacuumchambers are connected by an air duct. Vvithin the summit or upperportion of the primary siphon the force of the water running throu h thesaid primary siphon, ejects air, and, ence, produces a partial vacuum inthe vacuum chamber of the two siplrons. The partial vacuum produced inthe vacuum chambers or sunm'iits of the two siphons will raise the waterto a point of overflow'in the primary siphon and will raise the waterto'an equal altitude in the relatively long receiving leg of thesecondary siphon. Furthermore, the

reduction in the pressure, or the partial vacuum produced in the vacuumchamber or summit of'the secondary siphon will cause air totiow throughthe air inlet of said leg; and air thus introduced into the water insaid long receiving leg will [low rapidly upward, thereby decreasing theell'cctive weight of the column of water in said long leg, and thusproducing a forced upward flow of the water in said long receiving leg.

One embodiment of my invention is illus: trated in the accompanyingdrawings,wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a view chiefly in verticalsection, but with some parts left in full, showing the said apparatus.Fig. 2 is a detail taken in section on the line a .22 of Fig. 1; and Fig.'3 is a plan view of the so-called. suction air pum which is arrangedto work within the primary siphon.

The primary siphon is arranged to receive water from the forebay A of adam and to discharge the same at a lower elevation B. This primarysiphon may take various forms, but it is preferably constructed as shownin the drawm s, which constructionis as follows: The s ort or receivingleg of this primary siphon is in the form of an upright shell orcylinder 1', the upper end of which is closed by a head 2 having, asshown, a manhole normally closed by a man-hole cover 3 detachably butrigidly secured with an all; tight joint by any suitable well-knownmeans. The lower end of this leg 1 is submerged more or less in thewater of the forebay A, The ion or discharging leg of the said primarysip 1011 is made up ofa multiplicit of telescopically v connectedsections 4 having flanged ends '4, shown only in Fig. 2, that preventthe said sections from being drawn-completed apart. This long leg 4 iscentrally or' axia ly disposed with respect to tlie leg 1, and thelowersection thereof is arranged to discharge at the lower level B:Surrounding the upper section of this telescopic leg 4 and securedthereto is a float, shown as in the form of an annular air can 5, and tothe top of this air can, or to the upper end of theuppr. section of thesaid leg 1, is secured upwardly extended air inlet tubes 7 and a verymuch larger number of relatively small inwardly radiating air dischargenipples 8. The head, made up of the ring U, tubes 7 and nipples 8,constitutes an air suction device or head-piece of the characterhitherto a tubular ring which has a multiplicity of tee-t. theproportion of air to Water must be small as compared to that possible inbydraulic air com pressors working under high. heads. Sitter theheadpiece has once 'been i adjusted. the proportion oi? air to Waterwill employed in hydraulic air compressors. The i lower the pressure 1nthe vacuum chambers amount of water overfiowingvfrom the leg 1 into theleg l may be regulated by an invertspondmgly and the head-piece Wlllcontinue ed gate 5) shown as secured to an adjusting rod 10. Thisadjusting rod works through a stalling box in the head 2, and the lowerend thereof has threaded engagementwith an arm ll secured to theinterior of the upper section of the siphon leg 4. A hand-piece 12 f.short discharge leg 16 and a vacuum chamber l5 which connects the saidtwo legs and 1(3. The vacuum chambers l and l5 of the primary andsecondary siphons are connected by a pipe 17 that constitutes an airduct. The discharge leg 16 of said second ary siphon is preferablyprovided with a check valve 18 that permits free downward flow of theWater, but prevents backward 'flow thereof. The said discharge leg 16 isar angled to deliver ate at an elevation, indicated at C. Opening fromthe atmosphere into the lower portion of the relatively longreceiving'lcg 15 is an air port, shown as in the form of a short pipe1.) having a funnel-shaped upper end 20 adapted to be opened'and closedby a valve 21. This valve is connected, by an adjustable stem. 22-22, toone of the corrugated plates of a steel vacuum box 23'; such used in theaneroid barometer. This vacuum box is connected, by'a. small pipe 2 1-,to the air pipe 17, so that saidjhox is-subject to the same pressure asthat in the vacuum chambers of the two siphons. In the air pipe 17,below its junction witirthe pipe 24, is a valve 25, by means of whichthe lower portion of the said pipe 1? may be opened and closed. When theapparatus is in action, however. this valve-Q5 must be open.

Operation: Before starting the apparatus into action, the head-piecewill float on the level of the forebay, and the Water will. rundowrncarrying with it a certain amount of atmmsphcric air, for instance,.500 cubic feet of free air per minute. its the system intended lowheads, usually less than 20 .adjustably secured to the upwardly ex- 1'1-l5, and the waterslcvel will rise correto float on the new waterlevel, with the air tube 7 projecting above the Water and with thenipples 8 submerged in the water. This rise we will assume to be 15.feet, so that theprcssure in the system, that is, in the vacuum chambersand connections, Wlll be approximately one-half atmosphere, or 7% poundsper square inch. The Water which continues to run over the head-piece inthe primary siphon passes downward over the multiplicity of m ples 8 anddraws in air through the tubes at the rate of 500 cubic feet per minute,by volume ofrarcfied air,

which volume of air is equal only to 25.0 cubic feet or free oratmospheric air per minute; and this air is carried downward by theWater flowing through the lon leg of the primary siphon and "isdischarged to the atmosphere at the lower end of. said leg. Hence, therecan be added 250 cubic feet of free air per minute to the system Withoutcausing any change in the vacuum, 5. 6.,- the pressure in the vacuumchambers and .conncctions. Inasmhch as the secondary siphon is subjectto the same vacuum or reduced pressure as the primary siphon, it isevident that all water 1n-thc long receiving leg 15 of said secondarysiphon will, by its reduced pressure alone, be caused to rise to thelevel of the water in the prime siphon. By means of the reversely threaed nut 22*, the valve stem 22 should be so adjusted that the valve 21will open the an" admission or inlet 19 whenever the air pressure in thesystem is reduced below 7'} pounds,fbut will. move said valve into aposit-ion to close said air inlet whenever the air pressure in thesystem is raised above 7% pounds. It-is, of course, understood thatatmospheric pressure on the exterior 01 die vacuum box 23 tends to movethe valve 21 into an open position,- while the pressure Within saidvacuum'hox, assisted b gravity of the parts, tends to move said va veinto a closed position. Otherwise stated,.under the action of theautomatic controller 23, the valve 21 ad mits air to the leg 15 onlywhen vacuum exceeds the pressure of the head or column .of water in. theshort leg of the primary siphon. The air thus admitted into the leg 15of the secondary siphon, through the air inlet 19, will rush upwardthrough the said leg at an increasing speed, expanding in its course inaccordance with Marriottes law, 1

and the air bubbles so reduce the specific gravity of the water in thesaid leg that the,

nmn of pure water to the altitude 3 3 will no v supportand accelerateupward a columnof water and air to the altitude or level of the water inthe vacuum chamber 15 of the said secondary siphon. It will, of course,be understood that the effective weight of the column of water and airin the relatively long receiving leg 15 of the secondary siphon isalways less than thel effective'wcight of the solid column of water inthe discharge eg 1.6 of said siphon. An increase of air in the leg 15will lower the specific gravity of the fluid therein, and, hence, thewater will rush upward through the lower end of said leg at agreatervelocity; and conversely, a decrease'of the supply of water to saidlegwill increase the specific gravity of the fluid or mixture of air andwater in the said leg, and thus decrease the intake of water. It willthus be seen that neither siphon can ever overload itself as to theintake of Water; and the system requires no attention, inasmuch as theworking of the system is dependent on the supply of air to the receivingleg of the secondary siphon, and this supply of air is re ulated by theautomatic controller aliorded, in the illustration given, by the vacuumbox 23.

When more than one secondary siphons are employed, all thereof may bearranged to deliver water a t the same altitude, or they may be arrangedto successively deliver water to higher and higher altitudes.

' a many instances the long or discharge leg of the primary siphon wouldnot be made extensible, in which case it will be necessary, in the firstinstance, to produce a partial vacuum in the summit of said primarysiphon in order to start the flow of water through the said siphon. Thecheck valve '18 in thelower end of the discharge leg 16 of the Se30lidflly siphon would be required only when rutting the system intoaction.

It will, of' course, be understood that the air inlet must enter thelong leg of the socalled secondary siphon at a point within the suctioneffect of the vacuum produced, so that the internal pressure at thatpoint is less than atmospheric. I

in this specification and in. the claims, the expression long and shortsiphon legs has reference only. to the vertical ext mt thereof,andentirely ignores the horizontal extension that may, in manyinstances, be

involved in the siphon legs.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for elevating water, the combination with a primarysiphon arranged to deliver water from a normal to a lower elevation, ofa secondary siphon arranged to deliver water from a normal to a higherelevation and having an air inlet in the lower portion of its receivingleg, and means actuated by the how of water through said primary siphonand operating to eject air from the summits of said two siphons, wherebythe partial vacuum produced in the summits of said siphons will causeair to enter and flow upva rd with the water through the receiving legof said secondary siphon,

' subst ntially as described.

:2. in an apparatus for elevating water, the combination with ,aprin'iary siphon arranged to deliver water from a normal to a lowerelevation, of a secondary siphon having a relatively long receiving legand arranged to' deliver water from a normal to'a higher elevationl'thesaid receiving leg having an air inlet in its lower portion, and meansactuated by the flow of water through said primary siphon and operatingto eject air from the summits of said two siphons, whereby the partialvacuum produced in the summits of said siphons will cause air to enterand flow upward with the Water in the relatively lon receiving leg ofsaid secondary siphon, sulistantially described.

3. In an apparatus for elevating water, the combination with a primarysiphon arranged to deliver water from a normal to a lower elevation, ofa secondary siphon having a relatively long receiving leg and arrangedto deliver water from a normal to :r

higher elevation, the said long receiving leg having an air inlet in itslower portion, a-

valve controlling said air inlet, means actuated by the flow of waterthrough said primary siphon and operating to eject air from the summitsof said two siphons, and an automatic controller for said valve actuatedby a difierence between the atmospheric prcssure and the partial vacuumpressure produced in said siphons, substantially as described.

'4. In a. Water elevating apparatus the arranged to deliver water from anormal to a higher elevation, said long receiving leg having an airinlet in its lower portion, an air conduit connecting the vacuumchambers of said two siphons, and an air suction device located in thesummit of said pri-.-

mary siphon and operating to produce partial vacuum in said vacuumchambers and thereby cause air ta) enter through said air inlet and towith the water upward "through the receiving leg of said secondarysiphon substantially as described.

5. In a. water elevating apparatus, the combination with a primarysiphon having a delivery leg extending downwar'il through its receivingleg and arranged to deliver Water from a normal to a lower elevation,said primary siphon, having .a vacuum chamher in its summit/10f 'asecondary siphon having a vacuum chamber in its summit and. having arelatively long receiving leg and arranged to deliver Water from anormal to a higher elevation, said long receiving leg having an airinlet in its lower port-ion, an air conduit connecting the vacuumchamber of said two siphons, an air suction device located in the summitof said primary siphon and operating, under the flow of waterthroughsaid primary siphon, to produce a partial vacuum in the vacuumchambers of said two siphons, a valve controlling'said air inlet, and anautomatic controller for said valve, actuated by a difference betweenthe atmospheric pressure and the pressure of the partial vacuumrproduced in the vacuum chambers of said siphons, substan tially asdescribed.

6. In an apparatus. for elevating water,

asaova the combination with a rimary siphon arranged to deliver Water mma normal to a lower elevation, of a secondary siphon ar ranged todeliver Water from a normal to a higher elevation and having an-airinlet in the lower portion of its receivin leg, a valve for opening andclosin said air inlet, means actuated by the flow 0 water through saidprimary siphon and operating to eject air from the summits of the saidtwo si- OLAF A ROED.

Witnesses:

H D. KILGORE, F. D. MERCHANT,

phons, and an automatic controller for s aid air inlet valve actuated bya difle'rence

